US government job openings at multi-year lows! November hiring drops to 89,000 — What it means

US job openings in November 2025 fell to historic lows, and government jobs experienced a steep slowdown, according to latest data. Job openings, especially in the government sector, declined as well.

As per the latest US jobs data published by Bureau of Labor Statistics, US government job openings have declined by around 89,000, mostly at the state and local government levels, showcasing a clear dip in hiring. The number of US government job openings stand at around 695,000 now, its lowest levels since February 2021, according to a report by The Kobeissi Letter.

As per the report by The Kobeissi Letter shared on X, available vacancies at the government has reduced by around 532,000 since the July 2022 peak, fully retracing to the early 2019 levels. Livemint could not independently verify the data.

This indicates a clear slowdown in hiring.

However, according to official data of Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, federal government vacancies increased 8,000.

“Federal government employment was little changed in December (+2,000). Since reaching a peak in January, federal government employment is down by 277,000, or 9.2%,” according to the latest jobs report by Bureau of Labor Statistics released on January 9.

US jobs decline to record lows

In the overall scenario too, US job openings fell in November to a more than one-year low, as per government data on Wednesday.

Hiring slowed too during this period, indicating most employers remain reluctant to make big changes to headcount.

The number of available job positions in November declined to 7.15 million, as compared to a downwardly revised 7.45 million in the prior month, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed. This was the lowest level since September 2024. The figure was below expectations from analysts.

JOLTS data for October was revised down to show 7.449 million job openings instead of the previously reported 7.670 million. This represents a back-to-back decline for two months in terms of job openings across the US.

The fewer opportunities are being reflected across sectors, including leisure and hospitality, health care and social assistance, as well as transportation and warehousing.

As per the JOLTS report, the number of vacancies per unemployed worker fell to its lowest level since March 2021 to 0.9%. The data is closely by Federal Reserve officials as a proxy of the balance between labour demand and supply. At its peak, the ratio was 2:1.

Meanwhile, hiring dropped by 253,000 positions to 5.115 million in November, as per JOLTS data.